menaquinol-6 and fumaric-acid

Escherichia coli succinate-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (SQR) and menaquinol-fumarate reductase (QFR) are excellent model systems to understand the function of eukaryotic Complex II. They have structural and catalytic properties similar to their eukaryotic counterpart. An exception is that potent inhibitors of mammalian Complex II, such as thenoyltrifluoroacetone and carboxanilides, only weakly inhibit their bacterial counterparts. This lack of good inhibitors of quinone reactions and the higher level of side reactions in the prokaryotic enzymes has hampered the elucidation of the mechanism of quinone oxidation/reduction in E. coli Complex II. In this communication DT-diaphorase and an appropriate quinone are used to measure quinol-fumarate reductase activity and E. coli bo-oxidase and quinones are used to determine succinate-quinone reductase activity. Simple Michaelis kinetics are observed for both enzymes with ubiquinones and menaquinones in the succinate oxidase (forward) and fumarate reductase (reverse) reactions. The comparison of E. coli SQR and QFR demonstrates that 2-n-heptyl 4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide (HQNO) is a potent inhibitor of QFR in both assays; however, SQR is not sensitive to HQNO. A series of 2-alkyl-4,6-dinitrophenols and pentachlorophenol were found to be potent competitive inhibitors of both SQR and QFR. In addition, the isolated E. coli SQR complex demonstrates a mixed-type inhibition with carboxanilides, whereas the QFR complex is resistant to this inhibitor. The kinetic properties of SQR and QFR suggest that either ubiquinone or menaquinone operates at a single exchangeable site working in forward or reverse reactions. The pH activity profiles for E. coli QFR and SQR are similar showing maximal activity between pH 7.4 and 7.8, suggesting the importance of similar catalytic groups in quinol deprotonation and oxidation.

Topics: Anilides; Dinitrophenols; Electron Transport Complex II; Enzyme Inhibitors; Escherichia coli; Eukaryotic Cells; Fumarates; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hydroxyquinolines; Kinetics; Multienzyme Complexes; Naphthols; Oxidoreductases; Pentachlorophenol; Prokaryotic Cells; Succinate Dehydrogenase; Succinic Acid; Terpenes; Ubiquinone

Fumarate reductase (FRD) of Escherichia coli is a four-subunit membrane-bound complex that is synthesized during anaerobic growth when fumarate is available as a terminal oxidant. The two subunits that comprise the catalytic domain, FrdA and FrdB, are anchored to the cytoplasmic membrane surface by two small hydrophobic polypeptides, FrdC and FrdD, which are also required for the enzyme to interact with quinone. To better define the individual roles of the FrdC and FrdD polypeptides in FRD complex formation and quinone binding, we selectively mutagenized the frdCD genes. Frd- strains were identified by their inability to grow on restrictive media, and the resulting mutant FRD complexes were isolated and biochemically characterized. The majority of the frdC and frdD mutations were identified as single base deletions that caused premature termination in either FrdC or FrdD and resulted in the loss of one or more of the predicted transmembrane helices. Two additional frdC mutants were characterized that contained single base changes resulting in single amino acid substitutions. All mutant enzyme complexes were incapable of oxidizing the physiological electron donor, menaquinol-6, in the presence of fumarate. Additionally, the ability of the mutant complexes to oxidize reduced benzyl viologen or reduce the ubiquinone analogue 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-6-pentyl-1,4-benzoquinone and phenazine methosulfate with succinate as electron donor were also affected but to varying degrees. The separation of oxidative and reductive activities with quinones suggests there are two quinone binding sites in the fumarate reductase complex and that electron transfer occurs in two le- steps carried out at these separate sites.

Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Catalysis; Cell Membrane; Cloning, Molecular; Electron Transport; Escherichia coli; Fumarates; Macromolecular Substances; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; Naphthols; Plasmids; Structure-Activity Relationship; Succinate Dehydrogenase; Terpenes; Transformation, Bacterial